Ok so a long while since we posted anything! So Sao paulo was a huge place, Paulista avenue the new business centre of the city had a very American feel lots of highrise buildings, and clearly separated blocks! The old centre has some very picturesque buildings, but there's also a large homeless population which is clearly visible!
After a week in Sao Paulo we took a trip further south to a smaller but older city called Curitiba! In Curitiba we took an open top bus ride around the city taking in all the sights and stopping the see the botanical gardens and tangui park, we also visited the uniquely styles Oscar niemayer museum which houses a collection of architectural designs by the man himself! It was in Curitiba we had our first wierdo experience, a guy who could speak as much English as we can Portuguese decided to talk to us with what seems like the intent to to get one or both of our phone numbers, we finished our drinks and ran into the dark wet night away from him!
A 10hr overnight bus found us in foz do iguaca, the Brazilian side of the worlds "widest" waterfall, widest being a cheat seeing as they are made up by 270+ falls, the pictures don't do the place justice, the shear force of nature is unbelievable. We crosses the border into Argentina to see what their side of the falls had to offer, while more organised and tourist centred the views on offer where nowhere near as spectacular as the braIlian side!
After the stay in foz we headed across the paraguayian border, only for us to realise the bus doesn't necessarily stop at the border so we had to jump off the bus and walk back to get our exit stamp, in the meantime the bus had left leaving us to walk across the bridge of friendship and into paraguayian customs!
Ciudad del este is just one huge Market where the worlds pirates hang out! You name it they probably have a copy of it! From clothes to shoes, from iPods to slypads, one chap would even embroider the logo you wanted whilst you waited!
From ciudad we headed 6 hrs, for a tenner, on the bus to asuncion with the treat of badly dubbed Spanish movies blazing over the buses speakers, upon arriving at the bus terminal and waiting in trepidation at what we hoped was the right bus stop into centro! Eventually the bus came and we hopped on expecting a 10-15min bus ride, oh no half an hour later we where still on the bus heading past a "picturesque" local square, filled with tarpalling tents, and shoeless vagrants, and surprise surprise 2 blocks later was our hostel!
Asuncion didn't really offer much and the 6 nights spent there was overkill, especially after night 4 seeing a middle aged woman pissing in the gutter of a busy street! Only saving grace was the recommendation of the brittAnia pub, a proper bar serving reasonably cheap beer, and playing Brit-pop from all decades!
So now in cordoba, possibly the most European city we have been to so far, loads of bars and clubs(there are 9 universities in the city)! The bus ride here was a drag, 1 bus took 6 or so hours b4 we had to change onto our night bus, this bus creaked at every bump in the road, which where frequent as every road on the 12 hour journey was seemingly a cobbled street! Also the numerous snorees nearby did not help and the occasional sleep induced fart! Our first night in cordoba was fun we walked to the main square to find a wedding coming out of the cathedral, @ 10pm! And for a soundsystem getting set up in the square, apparently for a tango display, but imagine our surprise when the "display" was a load of local oldies who come out every Saturday night to dance in the square, just like being in the legion on a Saturday night! One couple, then chap about 85, would of put the celebs on come dancing to shame!
Well of out to explore the other surprises cordoba has instore!
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